Fascination with the Ordinary: Children of Summer

Children of Summer: Henri Fabre's Insects

by Margaret J. Anderson

I think this book was recommended by another member of the Mater Amabilis™ Facebook group. I read it aloud to all four kids. It was ideal for the younger two (11 and 9) but the older two (15 and 13) didn't complain. Mater Amabilis™ Level 1A (second and third grade) includes a study of insects, which we've never done, but this book would be a wonderful supplement to that study.

Written from the point of view of one of Henri Fabre's younger children, Paul, when he was ten. Paul and his younger sisters are the assistants, sharing the responsibility for collection and observation for Henri Fabre as he investigates the lives of the insects on his farm in France. It's a marvelous account of how anyone can explore the natural world right outside our doors. Even if we don't discover something unknown to science, we can delight in creation.

Each chapter is only a few pages and most cover a single insect. We don't narrate our family read-alouds, but I think the chapters would make excellent readings for narrations even for relatively young students.

I love reading aloud from a book on the natural world. We don't get out for nature study as often as we have in the past and certainly not as often as I like, but books like these encourage the younger two, who still have ample free time outside nearly every day, to continue to explore even when they aren't toting around their nature notebooks.

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School Week Highlights: Week 11

This was a book-heavy week. We did almost every assignment in every subject, which happens less often than not. It does make our highlight post a little less exciting.

- We went to adoration.

- We had a lovely nature study walk at a near-by park. We've been there many times but took a trail off the paved path for the first time.

What is this bug? How would we even find out? 

They were burrowing.

- First Son mastered division on xtramath and is done for the year!

- Second Son mastered second grade on Khan Academy and insists on starting the third grade work, though I have cut down on his computer time so he'll go more slowly.

- Though it is not a school highlight, I was tremendously pleased to finish stitching Second Daughter's Christmas stocking this past week. I had already finished First Daughter's in September, so now both are in the hands of an accomplished seamstress who will do all the actual sewing for me. With luck, they'll be back home before St. Nicholas comes!

Moth in Disguise

Late in the day on Easter Sunday, we thought we spied a hummingbird. I was able to take a few pictures and quickly realized it was not a bird; it had antennae and yellow stripes on its back.

I think it's a Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis). It moved just like a hummingbird and was fun to watch.

Our First Field Trip

On September 21st, the kids and I took Papa and Gram with us on our first homeschool field trip. We met some other families from our playgroup at the local botanical gardens for Monarch week. We prepared for our visit by reading a book from one of my favorite series, Are You a Butterfly? by Judy Allen. We have not been disappointed by any of the Backyard Books. We also read Becoming Butterflies by Anne Rockwell. We read other books on butterflies, too, but these were my favorites: engaging illustrations and informative text and stories for the young crowd on the Range.

We were pleasantly surprised when the public tagging demonstration including a tagged Monarch for each family. Here is our butterfly (a male):


We can go online in the spring and see if they found him in Mexico. Gram spent some time showing First Son Mexico on our globe and he was impressed. He's been planning trips to Mexico, California, Canada and New York ever since.

In honor of Monarch Week, a butterfly house graces the gardens. We spent a good bit of time there, though the kids weren't anxious to hold any butterflies.


They did find a corner with crayons and butterflies to color. (I was thinking to myself we could do that at home, but I think they enjoyed coloring with their friends.)

Then we spent some time exploring the gardens. It was a little drizzly, but no one seemed to mind. I hadn't been to the gardens before and thought they were wonderful. I know we'll plan on some more trips. I think going with our playgroup was perfect, too, because the kids did a lot of running. At this age, inducing physical exhaustion in the children is an important goal of field trips. I like to think we made a good impression, too, on the volunteers there, even if they didn't know we were a homeschool group.

Originally, we had planned a picnic lunch, but after the party and with my parents in town, I let the rain dissuade me. We ended up eating out with my folks, which is always a treat. The restaurant had United States place mats the kids could keep and they were so excited it was funny. First Son was reading off the state names for us all through lunch. Second Daughter napped for the first half of lunch and then was grumpy until bedtime, but these things happen.

All in all, a successful field trip!

Kansas Dad's Discovery

Kansas Dad spotted this praying mantis a few weeks ago and, in proper homeschooling fashion, ran back outside with First Son and the camera for a nature lesson.



On a related topic, this is the third flowering vine on our trellis. I believe it's a different kind of clematis than on the other side, something like this. There may also be a fourth vine, maybe one that doesn't flower. It's a bit overwhelming to me, and the first clematis, the one I like the best, has been mostly overgrown by the other vines, so I'm tempted to cut them all back to the roots and see if we can sort them out a bit. I know one of the others is a honeysuckle vine, which brings back fond memories of my youth so I'm inclined to keep it as well. Anyone know if these types of vines can be transplanted? (Not that I know where else we'd put them.)

Welcome Pollinators!

The batch of flowers right in front of our porch are apparently extremely attractive to butterflies, moths and bees. We've had quite the gathering there in the past few days. Kansas Dad and I are thinking of trying to move the plants to somewhere near the garden. (They are reasonably pretty, but only bloom for a short time and have the unfortunate habit of sending the scent of onions wafting around the front door every time someone brushes one.)

I think this is a Viceroy.


I'm pretty sure this is a carpenter bee. I haven't noticed any holes, so perhaps we can hope they are pollinating without doing any damage.